MESSA offers six health insurance plans, but, according to several school districts,
only four plans effectively exist. The six official MESSA health plans include: Super Med
I, Super Care I, Super Med II, Super Care II, MESSA 250/20, and MESSA Limited. Many school
districts are angry, however, because the two least expensive plans MESSA 250/20 and MESSA
Limited-have restrictions on their purchase. Many school districts contend that MESSA is
not providing them with a complete set of options when they consider which MESSA health
plan to purchase.

The 250/20 and Limited plans are geared towards a pre-defined segment of the school
district market. Specifically, those plans exist for both poorer school districts and
groups of employees, such as hourly workers, who typically are paid lower wages. The MESSA
250/20 plan, for example, offers a $250 deductible with a $20 co-payment for certain
procedures and protects against major catastrophe. It was developed primarily for
lower-level support personnel whose monthly insurance premiums often exceed their monthly
wages. Certain school districts must understand that the 250/20 and Limited plans offer
minimal benefits and are targeted at a certain market segment. It would therefore be
somewhat unrealistic to expect that all of a district's employees would even consider this
coverage.

Even then, school districts have claimed that both of these plans are available only
for certain periods of time, and these availability periods rarely coincide with contract
negotiation periods when the actual health insurance plan is decided.76
Furthermore, only one school district in the state is known to participate in the MESSA
Limited Plan. The districts are justified in stating that they deserve a chance to
negotiate the 250/20 and Limited plans and that MESSA should make these plans more
available. Consequently, school districts are generally forced to choose between the more
expensive Super Med and Super Care plans. On a related note, some districts have expressed
the desire to customize their MESSA health insurance plans. Doing so would give school
districts the flexibility to design benefit structures in accordance with their own needs
and budgets, rather than a limited choice between four very expensive plans.